Are Fires in the Desert Hotter?
by ItalianPirateGypsy
Summary: [AU] Our wonderful Konoha 12 are attending private schools (one girls, one boys) in the city and a new, redheaded Suna kid rolls into town. What kind of shenanigans will the gang get into now that they have a new mind to corrupt? Sasuke wondered why "mandatory friend time" even became a thing. At any rate, life certainly wasn't dull!


**Another fic that came to me from the great beyond... Or wherever stuff like this comes from in my brain. I hope you like this and tell me what you think! Thanks**

**IPG**

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><p><span>Doctor Everything, Yeah, He's Alright<span>

There were many things in Sasuke's life that he found absolutely annoying. Fangirls and boys were pretty close to the top of that list, and as he continued his stroll down the street, he tried his very best to ignore them even after he swore one just fainted as he walked past. He had to curse at himself for the millionth time since getting his license taken away. After the accident that forced him to have to walk to school from the public bus stop, he was sure that the dark blueish-black hairs on his head were falling out in clumps. _Damn the people of this city that couldn't keep their stupid eyes to themselves._

"Hey Sasuke! Wait up," came a familiar voice from behind him that he didn't even bother turning around or slowing down to wait for. He knew that his best friend would run to catch up with him no matter what pace he continued at, and soon enough, his blonde friend was matching his strides with ease just beside him. Sasuke glanced at the blonde haired, blue eyed man that looked more like he should be a lifeguard at the beach than a high school student in a uniform, but he just shook his head at the mess his friend's appearance was in. He looked like he had slept in the navy and red outfit with all the wrinkles and his shirts were half untucked as if he really had just jumped out of bed and ran here to make it to class. All in all, Sasuke envied his _normalness_.

"Naruto," he said in greeting to the much more fun-loving man of the pair. He had tried to get rid of him when they were younger, but Naruto Uzumaki was like plastic wrapping with a static charge. The more you tried to shake him off, the tighter he held on until you were forced to simply accept his presence and bond with him. It was fought every step of the way though by one very stubborn Sasuke Uchiha, and it was honestly probably the main driving force behind them becoming best friends.

"Hey, man, did you see that the new slasher movie is coming out tomorrow? I know how much you love horror and gore! Wanna go?" the blonde ball of energy asked as he bounced with each step that he took. He seemed extra excited about everything all the time, which drove Sasuke insane, but he could tolerate it never the less. He certainly wasn't a quitter.

"Yeah, I'm down," Sasuke said as he searched his mind for things he might have promised to his family but came back with nothing. It was a perfect way to get away from everything, that was for sure, and who didn't like escaping the confines of the house every once in a while.

"Great! I'll come pick you up at like 7-ish. Save you from riding the bus," Naruto teased and he nudged Sasuke in the ribs in emphasis. Of course, Sasuke glowered at the blonde, his dark eyes showing promise of pain and death for the jab at his ego, but the look was there and gone in an instant. He wasn't really paying attention to Naruto after that because the blonde would hold it over his head all day if he was allowed, so Sasuke opted to focus on the walk through the immaculate grounds of Konoha Academy for Boys which was the only way for Sasuke to truly escape his incessant fangirls for at least some of the hours in the day. Despite having fanboys as well, it was easier to escape their advances because there were far less of them in the world and the Academy was huge. Plenty of places to escape into hiding if need be.

Though it was a private school, Naruto had decided to follow him there instead of going to the public high school that would have been way less money for the blonde. Naruto had always told him that the money wasn't an issue and that he simply wanted to keep track of Sasuke to be sure that he was never alone and at least had one friend, which Sasuke believed to an extent, but he knew that Naruto's grandparents struggled with money most of the time.

After Naruto's father, Minato, had passed when they were five, Naruto had been sent to live with his grandparents, Orochimaru and Tsunade Senju. Of course, it was around that time that Sasuke started developing a following and was sent to Konoha Academy. Naruto had a fit and stopped eating for two days before Tsunade and Orochimaru agreed to send the boy to the private school with his friend. Luckily for them, no other incidents like that came up after the two boys were reunited. The Senju's spoiled Naruto to no end and truly seemed to only want his happiness. They referred to him affectionately as Sunshine, and Sasuke would tease him about it at any chance he got. Naruto didn't mind it anymore though, and some of their other friends had adopted it as a nickname that they called him on a daily basis.

As they walked through the main entrance to the school Sasuke was mildly amused with all of the boys milling about the huge, open Commons area. It was like that every morning, but seeing the boys lounging about, chatting, playing games, and getting in fights was so routine that Sasuke had to wonder how none of them ever got tired of it all. The facade was enough to make him want to punch every one of them in their stupidity.

They walked up to a group of boys lounging around a few couches and sat down with them. "Hey Naruto, Sasuke," Lee Rock said as they sat around seeming to finish up some last minute homework that they hadn't done the night before. With him were Shino Aburame, Choji Akamichi, and Kiba Inuzuka all busily scrawling on their own blank homework sheets.

"Oh, is that the homework from Trig? Mind if I check my answers?" Naruto asked sheepishly as he pulled his own homework out of his bag. Shikamaru Nara, the brown haired man laying across one of the couches, simply shrugged before falling back into the catnap he was taking. "Sweet! Thanks Shika!"

Sasuke watched Naruto busy himself with filling in a lot of the blank answers that he had left on his math homework before he sat down on the other couch next to Sai and Neji. Sai, being the only other black haired boy in their group and having a lot of the same features as the Uchiha, came with advantages and disadvantages. Much to Sasuke's chagrin, many people thought that the pair were related in some way despite that they barely looked anything alike. On the other hand, if someone asked about Sasuke, many of his friends would mess with them and automatically defer the crazies to Sai who would dazzle them with his award-winning personality. Of course, Sai didn't really have an award-winning personality. It was actually rather offensive and disgusting in Sasuke's opinion, but it deterred a lot of people from ever coming back and asking for him again which he liked immensely.

Neji was from a family of comparable wealth to his own, though the Hyuuga was much more snobbish than Sasuke ever cared to be. Neji always seemed to feel like the world was out to get him after his father passed away in an unfortunate accident leaving him in the care of his uncle who was the head of the Hyuuga Company. Despite his snobbery, he still managed to befriend Lee who was comparable to Naruto in the spaz department which was why Sasuke and Neji got along so well. They both had idiots to look after.

It was in that moment that the warning bell for first period stirred him from his musings and he stood up to stretch before grabbing his bag. Naruto looked horrified and began feverishly scrawling out Shikamaru's answers on his homework before Shika stretched across the couch and rolling over to pluck his own homework up and tuck it into his book before strolling off to class with a lazy wave behind him.

Naruto quickly caught up to the lazy man begging him to let him keep the paper, but Shika wasn't really listening, and they all went their separate ways to their first classes knowing that they would be seeing each other in just a few hours for lunch.

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><p>Sasuke approached the grassy picnic area that he and his friends regularly frequented when they were allowed to leave for lunch. They had an hour of free time, and all knew that there wasn't really a point in sticking around campus to eat or spend time when their days would all be better spent outside. Despite the number of boys that they had met in the Commons that morning, there were always far less of them when it came to the lunch hour because many of them went home or to visit their girlfriends.<p>

As Sasuke walked upon the table, he saw that Shikamaru, Lee, and Tenten were already there and eating. Shikamaru was laying on the grass staring into the sky with his hands behind his head. Typically, the brown haired man would be watching clouds, but the weather was clear and sunny considering that it was Autumn, so it was amazing that the lazy man wasn't asleep, yet. Tenten and Lee were talking at each other quickly which was how he figured that they had befriended Naruto since they were very similar in that way.

Tenten noticed him approaching first and waved at him before turning her bun-head back to whatever she had been discussing with Lee. Sasuke sometimes wondered how Tenten, a rather attractive and extraordinarily smart girl, had ever become attracted to Lee's obsession with green and physical exercise, but he supposed that love really was blind. They were all undoing buttons and pieces of their uniforms so that they could relax in the moment when a perky, blonde haired Ino and an abnormally pale Sai decided to grace them with their presence.

"Getting busy behind the gym again, eh, Ino?" Tenten teased since they all knew that the only reason that the pair were typically always the last to arrive was because the morning hours apart from Sai were enough to warrant sex everyday before lunch because she "missed him." At first, just knowing about the act alone was enough to make them all cringe, but they had been hanging out like this for some time, and Ino and Sai had been dating for at least two years of that time, so none of them were really bothered by it anymore. Lee once made the unfortunate mistake of going off and looking for them about a year ago and was now permanently scarred for life and had to be teased about it at least once a week since then.

Ino was about to make a snarky comment about Tenten's jealousy and lack of a sex life, but it was at that moment that Naruto approached with a fair-skinned, redhead with the most unusual pale green eyes Sasuke had ever seen. The mysterious man glanced and made eye contact with Sasuke forcing him to avert his eyes and glance around at all of his friends' reactions to the newcomer that Naruto seemed to have rescued as he did with every other one of his friends at their table.

"Hey, guys! I want you all to meet Gaara Sabaku. He just transferred from Suna, and I met him in Chem. Gaara, this is Sasuke, Lee, Tenten, Sai, Ino, and Shikamaru," Naruto said as he gestured to each of the people sitting at the picnic table that they frequented when they were allowed off campus for lunch each day. He then gestured to an empty place for Gaara before sitting down himself.

"What brought you to Konoha?" asked Tenten as she leaned on her elbows and looked at Gaara in modest curiosity. It certainly wasn't everyday that new students rolled around, especially in the middle of October.

"My mother insisted that I come here since this school has a better reputation. I really had no choice in the matter," Gaara said in his deep monotone that held very little emotion making Sasuke wonder if the man was really all that beat up about it. "My siblings got off easy since they are both going to Suna U."

"Hmm, that doesn't seem fair, but does that mean that you were sent to Konoha by yourself?" Ino asked wondering if the redhead was sent to Konoha without a place to stay.

"I've been set up in an apartment about 20 minutes away on the West side. It's just going to take some getting use to is all," Gaara answered and she reached out and patted his hand in empathy.

"Oh, you poor thing! We should have a house warming party to get you really accustomed to living here. It'll be like a 'Welcome to Konoha' bash!" Ino exclaimed excitedly which automatically got Naruto on board. Sasuke just shook his head in dismay as did Sai and Shikamaru. Something about the two blondes planning parties for others was infectious and completely unavoidable after they had decided to go for it. The three men almost felt bad for Gaara since he really had no idea what he was getting into as he shook his head in agreement no matter how unsure that nod seemed.

"Didn't we just have a party for Naruto's birthday?" asked Lee in confusion as he really didn't understand the entertainment in them as he was never allowed to drink. After the first incident in which Lee had only one shot of vodka, and then attempted to break dance with a barstool and ended up falling into a cactus and breaking a window, the dark haired man with the eyebrows that desperately needed tweezing was no longer allowed to have any form of alcohol and ended up being designated driver any other time they decided to get together and drink.

"Yes, we did, but that was, like, two weeks ago, and Gaara wasn't with us then," Ino said to him as if she were talking to a moron. She then turned to Naruto and they both started to busy themselves with party planning as if it was their full-time job. Sasuke simply laid his head back and let the words wash over him knowing full well that this would be another one of those moral obligation things that he would be forced into attending because he was friends with them.

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><p>After lunch was over, the group of boys said farewell to Ino and TenTen as they had to go back to Konoha Academy for Girls that was only a five minute walk away from their lunch spot. The Boys' Academy was about the same distance away in the opposite direction and they all strolled casually towards the school's entrance.<p>

"So, Gaara, what classes do you have this afternoon?" asked Shikamaru as he walked along lazily, not really caring what Gaara's answers to his question were either way.

"I have Lit, Gym, then Drawing & Painting," Gaara said not seeming too thrilled about his classes at all, but his stunning lack of emotion really threw off even the most skilled emotional faker, Sai, who couldn't figure Gaara out to save his life.

"Sweet! All of us, except Lee, have Gym together. This is gonna be awesome!" Naruto exclaimed as he bounced around beside his new friend with enthusiasm.

"You have Lit with me and I believe you have Art with Sasuke and Sai," Shika said as he let his arm flop around in gesture to his other friends which somehow took less energy to do than just moving it normally.

"Yeah, Drawing with Jiraiya," Sasuke said with mock enthusiasm. "I hope you like life drawing."

Gaara looked at him in question, but the men just laughed. "It'll be a great surprise," Sasuke said a he pat the redhead on the shoulder before they all continued into the building to go to class. _A really great surprise._

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><p>Sasuke had to admit that he was actually looking forward to Drawing, and the rest of his classes were not going fast enough for his liking. At least he got to see the new kid in Gym, but that was a class he truly wished he hadn't decided to take that semester. Professor Maito was <em>insane<em> and that was putting things lightly. The man could honestly put Lee's green/fitness obsession to shame, but it was probably all the same since Gai Maito was Lee's adoptive father.

As Sasuke walked into the locker room to change, he caught sight of fiery red hair and then heard Naruto busily chattering away at Gaara as if they had been friends their whole lives. Shikamaru nodded at Sasuke in greeting before turning to his own gym locker and stuffing the rest of his clothes inside before forcefully slamming the door so that it made a hollow metallic clang before he sauntered off toward the gym. Sasuke quickly slipped his dark-wash jeans off in favor of a pair of red basketball shorts that were once his older brother's and then pulled his own uniform shirts over his head before slipping on a new gray T-shirt. As soon as his head came poking through the hole, his eyes locked with Gaara's as if the redhead had been watching him dress. The eye contact alone made both men blush slightly and avert their eyes to something more interesting on the tiled floors. Sasuke couldn't help the small upturn of his lips and he quickly tied up his shoes and jogged out of the locker room to join the class. _Well, this should be a fun term, _he thought, and he sat on the polished wood floors of the gymnasium.

Professor Maito was just explaining to the class what sport they would be playing for the class period, Soccer. Sasuke, of course, was pleased with the choice of sports for the day because he was on the Soccer team for the Academy; therefore, he didn't have to worry about looking like a fool in front of the rest of the guys in the class and could simply have fun and let his competitive nature take over.

He heard Shikamaru mutter a 'troublesome' before he turned to glance around at all of the other boys in the class. Naruto was fist bumping Kiba since they were on the Soccer team as well, and Shino seemed to be smirking slightly behind his tall collar.

"Alright all you youthful, young men. I want you to gather into the two teams that I have assigned for you. Team captains will be Shikamaru Nara and Sasuke Uchiha. Now, let's split off and grab some jerseys. Nara Team of Youth, you will be the most youthful color of green! Team Uchiha Springtime you will be in blue. Any questions?" Gai shouted at them all as they split off into their teams.

Sasuke grabbed a jersey and thanked the sky above that he wasn't stuck with the green team. Prof. Maito always paid more attention to the team wearing that color. He glanced at the rest of his team which consisted of Shino, Neji, and, much to his delight, the new kid, Gaara. He smirked to himself as he slipped the blue fabric over his shirt and moved to leave the gym to head to the practice fields outside.

When they were all on their designated sides of the field, Sasuke called his team into a huddle. "Alright guys, Naruto and Kiba are on their team, and I know that Shika is going to use their Soccer skills to his full advantage, so I'm going to ask right now, who wants to block them?"

"I'll take on Kiba," Shino volunteered as he pushed his rounded sunglasses back up his face.

"Good. Anyone wanna take on Naruto?" Sasuke asked hopefully. He really wanted to take on someone else, but it looked as if he would be stuck facing off against his best friend no matter what. "Okay, fine. I'll take on Naruto. Otherwise, does anyone have a preferred position?"

"I actually would like a position in midfield," Gaara said cooly getting both Sasuke and Shino to look at him in surprise.

_So, he plays Soccer, too. This should be really interesting if their team doesn't already know. _"Well, if you insist. How's right for ya? I'll be in left and Shino will be a forward since we know that Kiba is going to take up defense," Sasuke asked and Gaara simply nodded in agreement. After that, Sasuke assigned positions to the rest of the team putting Neji in goal with some kids they didn't hang out with as defense, and the rest of them all went out and took up their positions on the field.

Sasuke noticed that Shika was in goal himself which surprised none of them since it was the position that didn't move very much and Choji was the other one of his defenders. Kiba was exactly where they expected him to be, and Shino seemed ready to take on the loud-mouthed brunette. Sasuke glanced over at Gaara who seemed nonchalant about the whole thing and then he faced forward looking into the ocean-blue depths of his best friend and rival, Naruto.

"You seem a little nervous, Sasuke. Afraid we're going to kick your ass?" Naruto bantered trying to rile the raven haired teen up.

"You only wish you were on the blue team, Dobe. Everyone knows that the green team loses more often than not because Gai pays more attention to what you're all doing," Sasuke countered earning himself a pout from the blonde with just how right his statement was.

"Shut up, Teme! He's like a freaking cat chasing a laser pointer. I can't help it that he pays more attention to us!" Naruto said as he roughly crossed his arms over his chest in anger at having been stuck on the green team. It was in that moment that Prof. Maito blew his whistle and started the game.

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><p>It had been a good game actually. Gaara had surprised them all with his knowledge of the sport and admitted that he had been a part of Suna's team before he had moved. At the end of the day, they had been neck and neck up till the very last minute, but it was Shikamaru's laziness that had ultimately been their downfall as Sasuke had managed to pass to Gaara who passed to Shino who then scored their final goal in one of the top corners of the net that was apparently too troublesome for Shikamaru to go after. Of course, they were all friends no matter what and the only grudges held would be those that could be ironed out with a rematch.<p>

They all walked into the locker room after handing back their jerseys and started dressing into their school uniforms again. They were really the ugliest things in Sasuke's opinion, but he wore it all the same. Like Neji, everything about his appearance had to be perfect and he wasn't going to settle for anything less. He straightened his tie and glanced at Gaara who was doing the same. _Yet another one of us that likes to look immaculate, _Sasuke thought, and he plucked his book bag out of his locker before letting it slam shut.

"You have Art next, right? Wanna walk with me to class?" Sasuke asked as he stood before the redhead in question.

"Sure," Gaara said and they left saying goodbye to all of the others that were still getting back into their school clothes.

"So, what's this teacher like?" Gaara asked raising one of his barely existent eyebrows in question.

"Well, he's actually a major pervert and will probably eat you alive, but he's one of the most laid back teachers in this school and tends to like to corrupt his students during class." Sasuke shrugged and looked at Gaara to see what he thought about that, but the boy didn't seem at all phased.

"And I suppose if I ask you to tell me why he will 'eat me alive' or what life drawing is, you won't give me an answer, right?" the redhead asked and looked dejected as Sasuke shook his head and zipped his mouth closed in mock silence.

"I'm sorry, Gaara, but I can't spoil the surprise," Sasuke said and he grabbed the handle to the classroom door and held it open for Gaara to step inside. He certainly couldn't tell the redhead that he was cute or that Jiraiya would most certainly try hitting on him despite that he was a boy. Certain things were better left to be discovered on one's own.

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><p>The classroom wasn't really anything special. It was set up like a miniature stadium with easels everywhere and several boys milling about gathering the supplies they would be needing for the remainder of the class. Sai was already there and had set aside two easels for Sasuke and Gaara to join him in their usual spot in the corner of the room. They each dropped their bags and went off to gather the drawing materials they would be needing for the rest of the class period.<p>

Noticing the older man perched in one of the corners looking relatively eclectic and well traveled, Gaara nudged Sasuke and motioned his head at the man with the long, gray hair. "Is that Jiraiya?"

"Yep, that's him. He may look intimidating now, but I think it's just because he knows you're here and wants to try and scare or possibly impress you," Sasuke said and turned to Sai who nodded his agreement.

After the last of the boys had settled in his place, Jiraiya got up and gathered his things to stand in the center of the room so that all of his students could see him. "As you all know, we are starting our life drawing section of this class today. While you all have had classes with me before, there is a new student joining us that I'm sure has never drawn like this before as it is typically reserved for those higher level university classes that I'm sure you will all be taking soon enough. So, without further ado, let me introduce or wonderful model, Tenten."

Both Sai and Sasuke started choking on the air that they breathed as Tenten, their Tenten, came out of the supply room with her brown hair let loose down her back and wearing nothing but a silky, magenta robe. Gaara looked confused for a moment before he realized that he actually knew the girl as well and had met her earlier at lunch, but he still didn't understand what the problem was until she got up on the podium and dropped her robe so that it pooled at her feet.

Tenten was very naked in a room full of boys and it took a lot of effort from all parties to prevent nosebleeds from happening all over the class. Sasuke and Sai were both red as tomatoes and could barely even look at her as she struck her first pose with her back to the three of them for them to draw. Gaara was also bright red, but his was for the fact that besides his sister, he had never actually seen a naked female before and her being there like that was terrifying.

"Look at the curves in the form when you begin to draw her. She struck a very open pose here, there's tons of confidence and loads to work with. I'm sure that you all will be able to create masterpieces here," Jiraiya said as he got behind his own drawing board and began feverishly sketching out Tenten's form.

"Do you think Lee knows that she's here?" Sai whispered as he leaned over to talk with Sasuke. The raven shrugged in answer as the blush slowly faded from his face and he began to draw Tenten as well.

Halfway through the class, Jiraiya told her to take a break, and she smiled gratefully before picking up her robe and putting it on. She then got down off of the podium and wandered about looking at the progress of the drawings that everyone was working on.

"Shit, shit, shit. I don't want her to see this!" Sasuke said as he tried to cover it with another piece of paper.

"Why? I think it looks fine," Sai said and Gaara nodded in agreement. Each of their drawing were similar in nature, but their unique drawing abilities came through in their own ways. Sai's was made with thicker lines that gave it an almost inky quality, Gaara's pencil lines were light and feathery but numerous which created a beautiful shading effect making the figure on the page look like she was made of the very air in the room, and Sasuke's was in between the two. His line quality was somewhere in the middle gray area, and it was more electric-looking which brought the Tenten he had drawn to life in a way that wasn't captured by either of the others that stood next to him.

"I like it," Tenten said next to him which startled him into jumping out of his chair away from her. She chuckled and took his seat to look at the drawing a while longer.

"Tenten, what are you doing modeling for this class? Does Lee know you're here?" Sai asked as he was also startled by Tenten's sudden appearance next to them.

"Of course Lee knows I'm here. He lets me do anything I want anyway, so it's not a huge deal. Plus, I thought I'd surprise you so I didn't let him tell you that I would be modeling for your class. Pretty great, huh?" she teased but neither of the boys seemed at all pleased with her.

"Tenten, have you modeled before?" Gaara asked as she seemed really confident even though there was an entire classroom full of boys drawing her in her birthday suit. He certainly wouldn't have been comfortable with that.

"Oh, Gaara, I forgot you would be here! Umm, nope, I haven't modeled before, but it's pretty fun so far. Are you enjoying the class?"

Gaara blushed profusely and nodded before turning back to his drawing to attempt to busy himself with fixing some of his lines that really had nothing wrong with them.

Sasuke chuckled at the embarrassed redhead as Tenten made her way back up to the front of the class to strike her pose again.

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><p>Soon enough school ended and all of the men plus Tenten gathered to walk out of the building for the day.<p>

"Tenten, what are you doing here? This is a Boys' Academy," Neji said as he walked calmly next to an excited Lee who was beginning to unbutton his shirt and blazer to reveal his obnoxious green-shirt-of-the-day. Today's model was neon and proudly advertised one of the many Iron-Man marathons he and Gai frequented during the Spring and Summer.

"Well, since the people I had intended to surprise already know about it, I guess I can tell you… I decided to model for the Drawing class here. It pays me some which is great since I'm trying to save for an apartment come graduation," Tenten said as she played with a strap on her shoulder bag.

"Modeling, as in _nude _modeling?" Kiba asked in a very suggestive, closet pervert kind of way.

"Yes, nude modeling, you idiot," she said as she thwacked him over the head with a science book Shikamaru was carrying before handing it back to him in apology. He simply shrugged it off as 'Troublesome.'

"So, Naruto, have you and Ino ironed out all the details for the party, yet?" Choji asked to get off of the uncomfortable topic of one of their female friends being naked for a class and their other male friends, besides her boyfriend, unwillingly having to see her in such a state. It was one of the many reasons his artistry lay in cooking. There wasn't a very high probability of having to be subjected to unwanted nudity in that profession.

"Well, Ino and I have been texting all afternoon since lunch. She's considering bringing Sakura into the fold as well to help us get everything together in the next two days. Otherwise, we just need a venue since I doubt that Gaara's apartment will be able to handle the bash we're about to throw," Naruto said rather quickly, but having known him for so long, all except Gaara were able to keep up with him, and even Gaara didn't seem all that confused.

"I thought the whole point was to have it at Gaara's since it's his welcoming party," Shino said and a few of the more intelligent members of the group nodded their heads in agreement.

"Gaara, how big is your apartment?" Naruto asked seriously considering whether or not he and Ino would have to downsize the invite list or even mulling around the idea of making an invitation that people could flash at the door to gain entrance.

"Well, you could come over if you wanted. It's decently sized in my opinion," Gaara said as he shrugged. He didn't really care that they hosted a party at his place, only that they helped him clean up afterwards.

"Sweet! This weekend is going to be awesome!" cheered the blonde getting Kiba to cheer along with him. Sasuke could only shake his head at how much control Naruto was given in instances where he really needed to be leashed.

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><p>So, the day of the party finally arrived. It was a Saturday and everyone seemed really excited that the party was also doubling as a Halloween party since the holiday was only a week away. At the movie, Naruto had filled Sasuke in on all the plans he and Ino had made as well as the sheer enormity of the apartment Gaara lived in. Appartently, the space was enough to dwarf the Senju household by quite a lot.<p>

"So what are you going to be for the party?" Naruto asked through the phone as they decided to help each other pick out their costumes through picture messages as they spoke.

"I have no idea. I was thinking maybe Jason."

"Aw man, you can't be what you were last year! That was already a recycle costume. Be something cooler," Naruto complained though he had a point.

"Where am I going to get a new costume so last minute? It's already 3:00 which gives me no time to go shopping," the raven grumbled through the phone, but Naruto wasn't really listening.

"Well, we could always borrow stuff. Maybe you could be a girl and borrow clothes from Ino or Sakura? I know you won't ruin your Soccer uniform so being a zombie Soccer player is out. Did you ask Itachi?" the blonde questioned though he already knew that Itachi was a last resort in any circumstance.

"No, I haven't asked Itachi, though if I want to avoid going as a girl, I'll probably end up having to go that route no matter what," Sasuke said resigning himself to his fate.

"That's the spirit! I'm sure you'll come up with something, but I gotta go, so bye!" and the phone went dead.

Sasuke quickly tossed it on his bed before darting out of his room and down the hall to where his older brother's room was. He timidly rapped on the door before a muffled "come in" could be heard from the other side, and Sasuke turned the knob and pushed the door open.

"Oh, Sasuke. What's up?" Itachi asked from his place on his bed where he and Deidara were busily "studying" for whatever college class they had together. Really, Sasuke knew that they were dating and had been for a few years now, but it was still a secret from their parents, so he wouldn't say a word.

"Well, I have a costume party to go to that I don't have a costume for and wondered if you might be able to help since Naruto says I'm not allowed to go as Jason for a third year in a row," Sasuke said as his tried not to stare at the pretty blonde man being affectionate with his brother in his presence.

The older raven frowned in thought for a moment before removing one of his boyfriend's hands from straying too low before scooting off the rather large bed and throwing open his closet to take a look.

"Eh, Sasuke, why don't you just do something easy? Don't you have something that could be turned into zombie-wear?" Deidara asked from the bed as he rolled over to watch Itachi's ass as he rummaged through his things.

"Nope, that's why I'm here," Sasuke shrugged before Itachi came out of his closet with a handful of clothes.

"Here, take this stuff and pick out what you like. You can give everything back tomorrow, but please, don't interrupt again tonight, okay?" Itachi said and he slowly guided his younger brother from the room.

Sasuke nodded not needing the hint twice and the door swung shut in his face. "Good thing Mom and Dad work during the day," he muttered as he walked back towards his room. He had a lot of work to do if he was going to go through the whole mess of stuff Itachi had given him and make it to the party on time. _Damn public transportation system._

* * *

><p>Sasuke had finally chosen a costume. It had taken him two hours to put the thing together after going through all of the stuff Itachi had pulled from his closet, but Naruto certainly wouldn't be able to complain about his habit of recycling costumes. This was <em>good.<em>

The young raven looked in the mirror in his bathroom again. He honestly couldn't believe that Itachi had had a costume like this. It was far too perfect to have simply been laying in his closet like that. Perhaps he simply wouldn't give it back after the night was over. _Perhaps not..._

He snagged his wallet and house keys and backpack that held extra clothes and stuff in the very likely instance that he were to stay over at someone's house and have to make the trek back home in the morning before he yelled to his brother that he was leaving and headed out the door. He had a party to go to.

* * *

><p><strong>So, what is Sasuke's costume? Can anyone guess? Anyway, I couldn't bring myself to make this a oneshot because I felt that there are too many underdeveloped SasuGaaSasu fanfics out their that just jump right into bed without actually explaining how these two pretty deeply tortured souls ended up together. So, hopeful I can at least come close to rectifying that in my own way with this! Please, let me know what you think!<strong>

**IPG**


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